There’s an art to the way Brandon Marshall talks because he usually manages to say SOMETHING without outright saying something.

Brandon Marshall wants Dolphins offense to be more aggressive.

The Miami Dolphins’ alpha receiver has done it all season, sending subliminal (and sometimes clear as day) messages to the media, encouraging us to read between-the-lines. That habit continued during his final weekly interview with WQAM’s Michael Irvin show this Tuesday.

Marshall hinted that he’s had issues with the Miami Dolphins’ conservative offensive play calling, especially how he was used in 2010, and some of it center on Chad Henne’s conservative approach to playing quarterback.

Marshall also outright admitted he and Tyler Thigpen, who replaced Henne against the Patriots,were improvising on a couple of occasions during Sunday’s 38-7 loss to the New England Patriots, a game where he caught five passes for 97 yards, most of which came in the second-half with Thigpen at the trigger.

Changing plays on the field led to Marshall having a heated discussion with quarterback coach David Lee, who didn’t like the fact Marshall and Thigpen were changing in-routes to go-routes based on the coverage Marshall was seeing.

One of those improvised plays drew a 32-yard penalty and set up the Dolphins’ lone touchdown. That pass interference was the second one the Dolphins’ Pro Bowl receiver drew all season, joining the one Jets linebacker Bart Scott committed in Miami’s 10-6 victory on Dec. 12th.

“We had a little discussion on the sidelines about keeping the route on,” Marshall said of his dispute with Lee, which centered on the type of press coverage New England cornerback Devin McCourty was playing him.

“They expect me to run an in-route, but me as a player, when we get singled with no safety over the top I want to take a shot and just converted it to a go….Seemed like an easier throw, easier play was the go route…. The quarterback coach was just doing his job. He didn’t know that me and Tyler were on the same page in terms of seeing the same thing out there.”

Marshall said he and Thigpen talked through the Patriots’ coverage often during the game. But sources tell me they changed some of Marshall’s routes in the huddle before looking at New England’s defense.

“I’m 6-5, 230 and have a rookie cornerback that’s 5-10, maybe 190 pounds in front of me. Just throw it up. You see what happened,” Marshall said, referring to the 35-yard catch he made on an improvised route. “That’s the type of play that my game has been missing all year, being able to threaten somebody deep when it’s one-on-one, no matter if they are running with me side-by-side or if I got a step or two. I look at it as if I’m open.

“When there’s press coverage outside and single safety (high) in the past taking a shot has always worked out pretty good, in my favor,” said Marshall, who finished 2010 with 86 receptions for 1,014 yards and three touchdowns. “That’s something I’ve been trying to get called all year….Trying to get them to understand if I’m covered I’m not covered.”

When asked if he favors Thigpen over Henne, whom he expressed doubts about last week for the first time all season, Marshall confronted the show’s co-host, warned he’d always “kept it real” with the show, then said: “I like whoever is getting the job done.

“Tyler gets it a little more,” Marshall said when asked a follow up question about the two quarterbacks. ”We had an opportunity to make three big plays. We made an amazing play on one of them, had a pass interference on the other, and the other one I just dropped. We really had an opportunity to go 3-for-3.

“It’s a look that I’ve been trying to communicate with the quarterbacks all year and we finally get it the last game and show what we’re capable of doing,” Marshall said. “Tyler gets it. He had an opportunity to play with Dwayne Bowe in Kansas City and they made some plays out there so I guess he understands [about] throwing the ball to a big receiver a little more than Chad Henne. But Chad has done some great things for us this year. He’s a smart, intelligent guy. The way he plays the game is he does…goes exactly through his reads.”

So, to translate it, Marshall subliminally called Henne a Robot.

“No matter the situation or the match up, it doesn’t matter that I’m 6-5, 230 against a rookie corner who is 5-8, 5-9,” Marshall said of Henne’s by-the-book style.

“We may have a discussion where we’re too safe as an offense at certain positions. I’ll take my chance in the game,” Marshall said. “We make three big plays, three conversions and then you get to the sidelines and there’s some conflict there because they don’t like it.

“If I would have caught that third one it probably still would have been a debate,” Marshall said. “We just have to get on the same page.”

Based on this season’s offensive production, and Marshall’s recent comments, it’s very clear the Dolphins weren’t in 2010.

in the red zone on 2nd and long, not run out the Wildcat formation and then on 3rd and long not toss a 4yrd pass in front of 4 defenders so we are guaranteed at least a 3pt fg attempt and overly happy fist pump when its good.

I’m not against Jim Harbaugh because I always thought he was a hard-nosed QB who competed despite being limited in some skills. He has some coaching experience as an asst. at the NFL level and a HC in college. But what it is that everyone expects him to do that will be such a refreshing change? Just wondering.
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phinmanski says:
January 4, 2011 at 7:03 pm

I think he is cutting edge as far as offensive minds go today.
The play calling / schemes last night were nearly perfect.
He is young and could start a new tradition in Miami by remaining for many years.
I like the fact he fits with Nolan being retained and Ireland continuing with the draft.
These come to mind first.

Phin..
I saw the exact same thing. Cutting Edge is a good way to put it. You could tell he looked at the D and was able to get his guys matched up in way that exploited them. I’m praying we get the check for this guy. He is young and hungry. I dont want Cowher because I could definately see him coaching for a couple years and taking off in similar fashion as a lot of these X superbowl winning coaches.

I’m pretty certain Ireland fits with the puzzle of Harbaugh.
Harbaugh is not after the GM position which is a credit to his ego.
I think he truly loves and wants to focus on coaching and designing plays.
It would not surprise me if all meetings with Ross and Harbaugh included Ireland.

just throwing a name out there of some one who once was perceived the same way – Steve Spurrier

I’m not opposed to harbuagh but if you are going to fire a HC, dot do it bc you think a college guy will do something he has yet to prove he can do. Fire sporano because he’s not the right guy. Then determine if harbaugh is.

Sometimes Ross scares me with this orange carpet sort of stuff. Is this PR or a sound football decision

I witnessed it last night. Some of his motion -trips to the right, all three in motion and set up to the left, then TE motions back to right and they hand off to a huge hole off LG for a huge gain. Defense didn’t know where to go or who to follow and it was a simple one back counter.
Good stuff!

Harbaugh is certainly the hot name right now, but that will all change after one losing season.

I don’t have any delusions of what he might be capable of, but he represents what seems to be the most likely way to jump start our offense. He has a lot of good qualities that could translate into becoming a great NFL head coach. He’s cutthroat and aggressive, yet he seems to keep a great relationship with his players. Lots to like.

How would he do as our head coach? No clue, but I’d like to find out. I really like Tony and have defended him on this board in the past, but the way things have played out have me belieiving that it’s highly unlikely he could coach this team effectively next year. Players speaking out and the owner going on a coaching search are just setting him up to fail.

If the Harbaugh quest fails, I believe you’ll see Nolan elevated to HC. Not a horrible alternative, but I’d rather have Harbaugh since Nolan would probably stick around too.

Flying pig.
Because Spurrier did not run what is known as a classic NFL offense. The offense Harbaugh showed last night and all season is similar to what the Patriots have run this year. He emphasized 2 tight end sets. If you DVR the game like me and watched some of those routes, it was genius the way the TE would open up. Va Tech runs a great defense and he was able to totally exploit them.
He had receiver stack formations like we see the pats run. The offense they ran last night is perfect for the NFL. I never thought Spurrier was going to be that good.

Marshall had over 1,000 yards and was never given the opportunity to shine.
Its play design and situational playcalling that stunk it up.
I feel sorry for all the RB’s,WR’s and yes QB’s who tried to run this horse shit.

Bat, nothing wrong with being a gambler. I want to see more offense too but I don’t think Henning helped us at all. That and we didn’t have the personnel to get to the next level.

The OL was not as good, the running game was a shell of it’s former self, Henne regressed down the stretch and we don’t have a lot of explosive players. I’m all for an upgrade.

If we are to replace Sparano, I would love for Jeff Fisher to become available and not be so quick to go with Harbaugh.

Fisher is a good coach with a lot of experience and I do feel he could work with Ireland because he likes the same types of players – big and physical. That doesn’t mean they don’t like explosive players. We just haven’t gotten to that point yet or landed any from 08 until now.

Fisher and Co. landed Chris Johnson the most explosive RB in the league when healthy.

I like Harbaugh as the best college coach but he’d be 3rd or 4th on my list. At this stage he’s too unknown at the NFL level.

I just hope that all the crap about Ross trying to find someone and if he can not we keep Tony is BS. You do not make coaching change that way……. You feel Tony is not the right guy get rid of him and find THE right guy. You do not look for a HC and if you can not find one stick with the guy you think is NOT the right guy.

WTF are you guys talking about? Hire Harbaugh as our OC but not our HC? See, this is what the average fan is clueless about. Soo.. Hire him as our OC, keep Nolan as DC, and Sparano is what? Our cheerleader? This would make Sparano practically useless. Hiring Harbaugh as our HC is the same thing as hiring him as our OC. He is our OC.. Very much the same way Sean Peyton is the HC of the Saints but also the OC. And Greg Williams runs the D. They may have people in the role of OC, but we all know the real OC is Peyton. The Patriots are the ONLY team in the league with no DC. Why? BB runs it. Can someone please tell me what Sparano brings to this team? He obviously doesn’t know how to run a offense. It’s clear as day the offense in Dallas was not by his design. If Sparano was a offensive genius, he would have over taken the play calling in the middle of this season like we have seen many head coaches do when their coodinators are doing a poor job. Sparano doesn’t bring anything to the table, we know Harbaugh can call plays. How can you ignore the fact Marshall and Thigpen had to result to calling plays in the huddle themselves. If this doesn’t tell you we need a new HC you are about as clueless as the guys who have been calling the shots in this organization for years.

Hire Harbaugh as our OC but not our HC? See, this is what the average fan is clueless about. Soo.. Hire him as our OC, keep Nolan as DC, and Sparano is what? Our cheerleader? This would make Sparano practically useless. Hiring Harbaugh as our HC is the same thing as hiring him as our OC. He is our OC.. Very much the same way Sean Peyton is the HC of the Saints but also the OC. And Greg Williams runs the D. They may have people in the role of OC, but we all know the real OC is Peyton. The Patriots are the ONLY team in the league with no DC. Why? BB runs it. Can someone please tell me what Sparano brings to this team? He obviously doesn’t know how to run a offense. It’s clear as day the offense in Dallas was not by his design. If Sparano was a offensive genius, he would have over taken the play calling in the middle of this season like we have seen many head coaches do when their coodinators are doing a poor job. Sparano doesn’t bring anything to the table, we know Harbaugh can call plays. How can you ignore the fact Marshall and Thigpen had to result to calling plays in the huddle themselves. If this doesn’t tell you we need a new HC you are about as clueless as the guys who have been calling the shots in this organization for years.

As for Ricky he is upset because the way the season ended and is venting, he knows he will be moving on to a team that will put him in the game for a change instead of getting 7 touches and never becoming involved. Marshall is starting to worry me changing PCs even sucky Henning game plans is not good. Just play the game and work hard everyday.

Harbaugh is not the answer IMO, he is the IT guy in college and the pro game is completely differant monster. He needs more time, maybe OC or QB coach but to throw him in is a risky gamble. Anyway if he is the next coach I hope the best and will be a loyal fan that roots for him and the team.

Marshall had over 1,000 yards and was never given the opportunity to shine.
Its play design and situational playcalling that stunk it up.
I feel sorry for all the RB’s,WR’s and yes QB’s who tried to run this horse shit.

Then again when your OC is calling all the pass catchers to run 5yrd comebacks on 3rd and long, maybe somebody needed to have the balls and say no effing way i’m going to try and run a route that will potentially pick up the first.

In the heyday of Bill Walsh and the West Coast Offense, I remember hearing (being in my teens then) that WR’s didn’t have a route that ran short of 10 yards except on hot blitz reads.

Phinagain, I don’t want the decision on a HC to be made by tomorrow. I’m sorry, I wouldn’t make a quick decision based on media and fan friendly acceptance. But that’s just me.

I’d be diligent and take a little more time. I prefer NFL experience over a college HC. So is next year a season where we all give Harbaugh a mulligan to get his feet wet? Is that what we’re looking for?

He may be offered those jobs, but if he wants to foment a long-term NFL career, he may be smarter taking an OC job first – less high-profile, and he can get into the pro game from the inside out. If he takes the SF job straight out of the college game, he runs the risk of being deemed a failure, and will not get more opportunities without going backwards first, or he may simply run back to the NCAA a la Nick Saban.

I’m actually in the Keep Sparano party, and I wouldn’t rush a HC decision either, I just wanted to see if you were willing to take a leap of faith and say “Sparano-IN” without peppering it with mitigating circumstances. I guess if you wrote “in” with lower-case letters it could indicate that he’s your fall-back guy, but since nothing we say matters, I like to take a decisive stab at these things (since it’s just my opinion anyway).

I think if there is a lockout deep into the summer, the team that are familiar with each other are going to be better off. This looming CBA is a problem.
I think the draft has to be in serious jeopardy of happening in April.

Right a decoy who caught 86 passes in 13.5 games and lead the team in receiving. He was just a decoy. LOL

How about what you see is what you get. It takes Brandon a lot of catches to put up yards. He always has. He’s dominant getting 1st downs. Not much more.

Yes you would have thought he would have been better in the redzone, but maybe he was just a decoy or not open. LOL

Marshall is not a big play guy. His career YPCA is 12.2. He had 11.8 this year. Wow what a drop-off. He had a 11.1 YPCA last year.

He’s a POSSESSION receiver.
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He also had 10 tds last year with the Broncoes the difference this year was he had no QB and the play calling sucked and yes he’s a gamebreaker you don’t have the NFL record for receptions in a game and not be a gamebreaker or would you say ginn is a gamebreaker because he’s fast???

Excellent performance. Lots of catches under 10 yards. The Broncos couldn’t do anything else. He was their guy that day.

Gamebreaker? He caught two 5 yard TD passes.

POSSESSION WR

Listen, I was all for Brandon maturing and taking his game to the next level this year when we got him. He simply didn’t do that. Go ahead and blame it on Henne and Henning.

How many times did Brandon slip trying to break a tackle and get YAC? He did it all year. Then pulled his hamstring. Maybe he wasn’t as prepared as he thought he was. How about helping the young QB instead of questioning him – you elite WR with 4 years under your belt.

We have the D going in the right way and will now be in limbo if Nolan leaves and he will if Tony gets fired unless he is offered the HC job. I see this thing going south in a hurry if it is not resolved NOW. Nolan may get a HC job somewhere else but I do not think it will be here.

Would you stay after your boss is fired and you get passed up for the position???? I know he will have a choice and if it were me I would get out of this wishy washy in and out organization. I like Nolan and hope he stays but I think he is gone as soon as Tony gets the boot and he is not considered for the job.

Apparently the talk I heard was all for not.
That would make sense if that is the date of its expiration.
Some of the lockout “talk” is that it could take until late July and that would mean from whatever date you are saying , after the draft, teams would not have any camps, OTA’s etc – no meetings of any sort until the agreement was in place.
This is why a new coach could have a huge disadvantage in installing a new system. Hell, maybe I have this wrong too

I definitely want Nolan to stay, but if we can get a better head coach and OC then I am willing to risk him leaving. I don’t want him to leave, but realistically if he has another year like this one, he is going to get a HC ing job after next season regardless.

I like it. I guess we are going to learn a little about his ego and from what I have seen Harbaugh is very grounded. It’s a good scenario. Let’s hope Ross and Ireland were smart enough to introduce the concept.

So who is Denver drafting at #2 if Luck enters the draft, and he should if he’s convinced he’s the #1 overall pick or top 5? You can’t pass on that kind of payday. It may never come around again. Even without the new CBA, it will be lucrative soon enough. The NFL isn’t going to fold. LOL

Harbaugh has all the leverage here so he will go all in as a NFL head coach or stay comfortable at Stanford. With Luck leaving, I think he makes the leap to the NFL with either the 49ers, Dolphins or possibly (slightly) Denver. Meanwhile Tony sits on the sidelines as a lame duck. Sparano’s gone as Nolan is the likely replacement.

Tim,
If they do somehow settle their differences, I wonder if Luck will come out this year. No way Carolina offers him a big contract before they decide on a rookie salary cap. They would be stupid to do so.

BiNY, the Panthers would own Luck’s rights until this time next year and I can’t see the NFL having a stoppage, can you? They’re too popular and smart to do that.

Rookies are going to get performance based salaries in the new agreement. It has to happen. It’s killing the depth of teams. Pay a top pick because you sucked last year, and now he sucks. Wasted money. Now you can’t fill out your roster with better talent.

January 4, 2011 at 8:21 pm
Why do you think you’re being a troll?
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The way I put it kinda looked likes Homes old post and for that I apologize but even though he had a down year(And should keep his mouth shut here and there)Marshalls the Man!!

Some of these guys never get another look, some also become comfortable with not having that role after experiencing it. I agree, he is under contract and not been linked to anything. I am not too worried about him leaving before his two year contract expires.

Sean Peyton is the HC.. But also the OC. Williams runs the D there. Thats why it would make sense to hire Harbaugh. Give him the title of HC, let him run the offense. Give Nolan control of the D. This would be the dream scenario. Sparano can not call a good offense, and if he can, thats even worse because he sat their like a a-hole and watched Henning call that crap. Someone tell me what Sparano brings to the table besides cheerleader? He doesnt call our D, he doesnt call our O… So what does he do? Get’s everyone to their meetings and helps with the game plan? If you dont think Harbaugh can do that your clueless

What is all this chatter about needing Harbaugh because his offense is cutting edge? Our offense was cutting edge this year – so long as you can get the four horsemen to run it.

I am all for getting Harbaugh. I think he is one of those great up and coming coaches.

If Harbaugh is the guy and they decide to go QB I am in favor of it being either Mallett or Gabbert – since Luck will be almost untouchable. Then the rest of the draft and free agency needs to focus on offensive line, RB and TE…

I think they have to do something now with the coaches. Ross has basically just told his wife he is leaving her to go tie the know with J-lo but that if it doesn’t go well with J-lo he hopes she will still be there for him 100% when its over — well, its over.

Maybe Tony stays on as O line coach. He clearly lost touch with what he does best. His next job will be limited considering he never was a OC .
I feel bad for the guy – he let Henning and Henne take him down.

I hear what you guys are saying but even if their is a lock out, our offense is in such disarray that a HC and OC change wouldnt make it any worse than it is now.
Our current guys were clueless from the get go last year and now all of a sudden they have something going when we do get back to football?
The only thing that argument gives me is hope that nobody snatches Nolan away from us…
GO PHINS!!!

ski,
It’s possible that 10 of the first 15 teams could be looking at QB. I know it doesn’t usually go like this but there are differences this year and the key difference is size.
Luck 6′4
Mallett 6′7
Newton 6′6
Gabbert 6′5
The NFL covets this size in QB’s then factor in the unprecedented number of teams looking for a QB I think it’s possible they go fast.
Go watch Mallett’s arm tonight, dude’s got a gun.

What ever we do it needs to happen, there is alot of work to do and FA and the draft is on the way. If we hire Cowher I hope his scouts are already looking over the film of college games, if it is harbaugh I guess we know what we are going to get with Ireland.

Im not much for Cowher anymore; Im afraid he blows the whole thing up and we have to start over again his way, his players, his coaches…
Does anyone remember 15 years? that shit wont fly here for even five…
All we need is an offensive overhaul, and an offensive minded coach is the 1st step in the direction we really need to be headed…
GO PHINS!!!

I’m not afraid of Sparano at HC with Nolan as DC and a new highly touted OC. We still need to improve the roster (Ireland). But we have some good talent and who knows if a few young guys break out and have great years.

As fans we’re not even patient enough to go with a 4 year plan. We need a complete redo. Amazing!

OMAR KELLY was unsuccessful at achieving his childhood dream to become a super hero, so he figured he'd do the next best thing and become a journalist who fights against injustice, and searches for truth. After being bored to death reporting news and covering politics, he switched to sports.
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IZZY GOULD joined the Sun Sentinel in Feb. 2012 as a Senior Sports Reporter on the Miami Dolphins beat. He came to South Florida fresh off covering the University of Alabama football program, including its 2011 national championship team. More